Upcycling

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Recycling and upcycling are ideas that seem to have been co-opted by a new generation that seems to think that no one ever recycled in the past.

While it “is” true that the last generation certainly has generated more harmful plastic waste than is even conceivable…. my parents were children born of the Depression of parents that were farmers/orchardists. They lived recycling and upcycling. Nothing that could be used for another, subsequent, purpose, was wasted.

And if it wasn’t currently useful…it was probably hoarded “just in case”.

Case in point – the Sock Monkey.

Sure, you can buy these as factory made things today, but this guy? He’s an original from the 1960’s and he has been in my life as long as I’ve been alive.

I’m not sure if Mom sewed him for my older brother, or for me. Either way he’s in pretty good shape for a 50+ year old pair of socks sewn into a toy that was dragged around by an arm or tail for a few years and then tossed into some bin to be forgotten.

Before I left home I had an old metal trunk in my closet; it was my memory chest and contained everything from Brownie badges to …well….a sock monkey. And when I left home….that trunk and everything in it came along to Vancouver.

The trunk is gone, the contents culled over the years….but the sock monkey remains on a shelf because it makes me smile and brings back happy memories.

Although he is over 50 years old, he’s in pretty good shape. His only damage is a missing pom-pom on his right foot. At the same age, I think he’s probably in slightly better condition than I am myself 🙂

What treasure do you keep from your childhood?